Six out 9 major dams in Marathwada have water shortage

As many as six out of nine major dams that supply water to urban and rural areas in Maharashtra's drought-prone Marathwada region continue to face a shortage, the data released by the irrigation department stated on Friday.

Dams, including Manjara and Majalgaon in Beed, Siddheshwar in Hingoli, Lower Terna and Sina Kolegaon in Osmanabad, Lower Dudhna in Parbhani are still in dead storage as rainfall has receded in the state.

There are nine major and 800 medium and small irrigation projects in Marathwada.

According to the irrigation department's latest report, major projects in the region are in a slightly better position with 56.47 per cent storage, compared 30.49 per cent last year.

As of today, the major projects hold a total of 3828.65 million cubic metre (mcm) water.

However, the scenario with medium-sized projects seems bleak. Medium projects in Marathwada (Aurangabad region) have 317.19 mcm water, which is 21.06 per cent of their total capacity. It was 24.25 per cent last year on the same day.

The small projects are in slightly better shape with a gross storage of 4473.44 mcm. This storage is 40.89 per cent of total capacity, which was 26.92 per cent the same day last year, the department's report stated.

Out of nine, six major projects are in dead storage, whereas two - Jayakwadi in Aurangabad and Lower Manar in Nanded - are full.

Yeldari of Hingoli has live water storage, which stands at 7.84 per cent (188.18 million cubic meter) of the project's total capacity.

"Excess use of water for sugarcane cultivation has always been the primary cause for the shortage every year. However, this time around, it is the scanty rainfall that has kept most of the projects dry," water expert Pradeep Purandare said.